The invention relates generally to body armor integrated with electrical power sources. In particular, the invention relates to ceramic plates attached to jacket, the plates equipped with batteries embedded therein.
Infantry combatants, including soldiers and marines often wear body armor jackets as partial protection against small-arms fire. To provide reasonable levels of protection, such jackets are generally massive and bulky, thereby complicating mobility of their wearers. In addition, combatants typically carry equipment that requires an electrical power source, such as batteries. The additional weight and bulk of such batteries can further impede performance during combat operations.
Interceptor represents a more effective type of body armor than traditional bullet-proof vests to replace a previous version of body armor known as Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT) fielded by U.S. armed forces. Materials for Interceptor were developed by DARPA in the 1990s, and a contract for production was awarded to DHB Industries' Point Blank Body Armor, Inc. by the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center.
The Interceptor body armor system consists of an Outer Tactical Vest (OTV) and two Small Arms Protective Inserts (SAPI). The OTV is lined with finely woven Kevlar® aramid. These two parts of the vest are both bullet and heat resistant. The vest was tested to stop a 9-mm 124 GR full metal jacket bullet (FMJ) at 1,400 ft/s (426 m/s) with minimal deformation and has a V-50 of roughly 1,525 ft/s (465 m/s). Thus, the bullet must travel faster than 1,525 ft/s to have greater than a fifty-percent chance of breaking through the armor plates. These plates come in five different sizes and are disposed into the front and rear of the vest.
The Interceptor does not, however, represent a Level III-A vest, as the relevant military standard does not require protection against heavy .44 Magnum ammunition. However, both Level III-A and Interceptor vests do protect from much lighter 9-mm threats in identical tests. The Interceptor vest stops other, slower moving fragments and is also equipped with removable neck, throat, shoulder and groin protection components. The vest has a quick-release feature in which a quick tug would drop the plates off of the vest when necessary.
Two small-arms protective inserts may also be added to the front and back of the vest, with each plate designed to stop up to three 7.62×51 NATO rounds (.308 Winchester) with a muzzle velocity of 2,750 feet per second (838 m/s). The plates for incorporation into Interceptor provide the most technically advanced body armor fielded by the U.S. military, and are constructed of boron-carbide ceramic with a Spectra/Dyneema shield backing that breaks down projectiles and reduces their momentum before reaching the wearer.
The Interceptor armor also has attachment loops on the front of the vest which accommodate the same type of pockets used in the Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment (MOLLE) backpack/carry vest system. This enables a soldier to tailor-fit his MOLLE and body armor system to satisfy mission requirements. Although not specifically designed for it, the loops can also easily attach MOLLE's predecessor, All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment (ALICE)-based equipment, as well as many pieces of civilian-made tactical gear. MOLLE also features a large handle on the back just below the collar that can be used to drag a wounded wearer to safety in an emergency. The Interceptor vest comes in various different camouflage patterns, including U.S. woodland, three-color desert, and Army Combat Uniform (ACU) patterns, as well as Coyote Brown.
The Interceptor Body Armor system weighs a total of 16.4 pounds (7.4 kg), with the vest weighing 8.4 pounds (3.8 kg), and two plates inserted weighing four pounds (1.8 kg) each. This is considerably lighter than the previous body armor fielded in Somalia (in 1993) weighing 25.1 pounds (11.4 kg) that most troops complained was too heavy and unwieldy for combat operations. The ceramic plates currently cost about $500 each. A complete Interceptor system costs $1,585.
Side-SAPIs are also available, along with the newer version of the vital plate, the Enhanced SAPI (E-SAPI). These two systems are becoming standard for forward deployed troops in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF in Afghanistan) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) III. The E-SAPI plates are thicker and heavier than the normal SAPI armor, but offer increased protection from M-80 armor piercing ammunition. The Side-SAPI plates protects the side of the torso under the arm. With the Interceptor body armor, E-SAPI plates (10.9 lb), Side-SAPI plates (7.1 lb), and with the neck, throat and groin protectors installed the armor is significantly heavier than 16.4 pounds (7.44 kg).
Various contracts were negotiated to investigate reduced-weight armor plates, such as HQ0006-04-C-7046 with Triton Systems, Inc. The program made significant advances in achieving a low pound per square foot, low cost armor solution by using aluminum and aluminum composite backplanes with a silicon carbide hardface to meet the small arms threat.
Samples were fabricated, assembled into an armor system, and tested using a 7.62×63 mm M2AP round at an impact velocity of 2800 ft/sec. The armor system was compared to the rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) and rather expensive boron carbide (B4C)—Kevlar system. The aluminum based backplane with SiC hard face has an areal density of seven-to-nine pounds-per-square-foot (psf) and a cost in the 100's$/ft2 range for meeting the 7.62×63 mm M2AP threat.
A battery is a device that converts chemical energy directly to electrical energy consisting of one or more voltaic cells. Each voltaic cell includes two half cells connected in series by a conductive electrolyte. Each half-cell includes a positive electrode (cathode), and a negative electrode (anode). These do not physically contact each other but are immersed in a solid or liquid electrolyte. In a practical cell the materials are enclosed in a container, and a separator between the electrodes prevents the electrodes from coming into contact.
An electric cell may comprise two different metals separated by an electrolyte. A series of galvanic cells can be concatenated in series or in parallel electric circuits. Wet cells used liquid electrolytes that are vulnerable to leakage if not handled correctly. In another type of battery, the Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) suspends the electrolyte in a fiberglass matting.
Portable rechargeable batteries can include several “dry cell” types, which are sealed units and are therefore useful in appliances like mobile phones and laptops. Cells of this type (in order of increasing power density and cost) include nickel-cadmium (NiCd), nickel metal hydride (NiMH), and lithium-ion (Li+) cells. The voltage developed across a cell's terminals depends on the chemicals used in it and their concentrations. For example, alkaline and carbon-zinc cells both measure about 1.5 volts, due to the energy release of the associated chemical reactions. Because of the high electrochemical potential changes in the reactions of lithium compounds, lithium cells can provide 3 volts or more.
Primary batteries irreversibly transform chemical energy to electrical energy. Upon exhaustion of the initial supply of reactants, energy cannot be readily restored to the battery by electrical means. Secondary batteries can be recharged, i.e., have their chemical reactions reversed by supplying electrical energy to the cell, restoring their original composition.